It will provide a savings of 0.0025 percent in the Arlington County government’s fiscal 2025 budget, but likely will lead to a less tidy and more graffiti-strewn community. Is that a fair tradeoff?
It apparently does seem fair to the county’s Department of Environmental Services, which has proposed reducing dedicated staffing to address litter issues in the dead-center area of the county.
The measure, described as a temporary reduction, would save about $40,000 (in a county budget of $1.62 billion) but will require personnel in the other six litter/graffiti zones in the county to do double duty to serve the seventh.
“Logically, there’s going to be a correspondingly roughly one-seventh-proportional reduction in cleanliness,” said Greg Emmanuel, who heads the department, during a March 12 budget work session with County Board members.
The budget proposal, if adopted, would eliminate one staff position, which currently is unfilled, staff said.
None of the five County Board members followed up to ask if perhaps the proposal was penny-wise but pound-foolish, as neighborhoods strewn with excess litter and graffiti that go unaddressed may be more costly in the long run than any savings accrued. All the proposal merited was a “sounds good” from County Board Chairman Libby Garvey as the body moved on to other matters.
On the plus side, at least there will be one high-profile figure keeping an eye on the situation – Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz lives within the litter zone in question.
